Thanks for your reviews, it got you this chapter a day early =)

21. Over?

....

BPOV

....

As I stormed my way over to their backyard, I noticed that their usual after game party was in full swing – even better, I thought to myself. I scoped out Laurent and tensed when I noticed he was with James. I took another mouthful of air to compose myself and continued to make my way over. I held my breath as they both turned to watch me; James' expression fell as he took in my rage and Laurent's mouth turned up in a smirk, fueling my anger. Oh, I'm going to wipe that smile off your face pretty boy – I thought smugly.

I singled out Laurent and blocked out the rest of the party, focusing only on him and what I was going to do to him. Cover him in Vodka and set him alight? – Maybe that was a little too dramatic. I did really want to bash his head in repeatedly against a wall though and maybe even kick him in the nuts. I was quickly trying to remember all the self defense moves Charlie had once made me learn when I turned thirteen, but my rage wasn't allowing me to focus; all I could commit to memory was guts and nuts, nuts and guts, I knew there was a third thing but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. I was starting to panic; what if I couldn't do this? How was I meant to hurt him?

In the momentary terror that claimed me, I became my usual self – a walking disaster. As I continued on my path of vengeance, I failed to watch where my feet were going and it cost me dearly. A hose managed to snake its way around my ankle tripping me, and I braced myself, closed my eyes and awaited the impact that was sure to follow.

....

....

"This is Bella we are talking about Jazz, she tripped like she always does," the voice I heard was familiar but I couldn't for the life of me place a name, my head was swimming.

Jasper was here?

Wait where is here?

"So she knocked herself out?" I heard a disbelieving, gruff voice ask, I think it was Emmett.

Knocked myself out?

"Its Bella," whoever it was emphasized my name to prove his point and then sighed. It took me awhile to realize that that person was James.

James?

I kept my eyes closed not willing for my company to know that I was awake- until I was able to get my bearings and know where the hell I was and what the fuck was going on. I could smell booze and laundry, something scratchy was covering my body and I was wet – like really wet.

Why am I wet? I thought to myself as I sat bolt upright. Urgghh!! I winced as I reached up to touch my head; it was throbbing and had started to spin from sitting up too fast. I opened my eyes and noticed the scratchy item that covered me was a towel and I was lying on the floor of a bathroom – James's bathroom? What the hell?

"How the heck did I get here?" I murmured to myself. Honestly, the last thing I remember was seeing Jess…and then going to James's flat to…to get back at Laurent? ARGH why is everything so fuzzy?

I noticed now that the people who were talking weren't in the bathroom with me, they were outside and it appeared things were getting heated.

"Oh come on and we are supposed to believe that?" I couldn't make out this persons voice – it could have been Jasper, whoever it was, they were not happy.

"It's true." I heard Mike speak softly, which confused me even more, shouldn't he be with Jess? I called him, didn't I?

"I saw the whole thing, she tripped over the hose and landed in the paddling pool, I think she may have hit her head on the concrete when she fell," Mike explained.

Oh the paddling pool…where the boys liked to keep the beers. That's why I'm wet. Sounds like me alright, fucking typical!

I stood up slowly, leaning heavily on the bath to steady myself. I checked myself in the mirror and noticed a small gash above my left eye, around it bruising had already appeared. I was completely wet, my hair was splayed across my forehead and cheeks and the little mascara I had worn had run, leaving a black mess in the process. I was cold, and my wet clothes were heavy and clung awkwardly to my body. I hugged the scratchy towel tighter to myself in an effort to get warm. I felt a bit queasy like I had been drinking, but I think that was mostly due to the dizziness I was experiencing from hitting my head. I fought the urge to drink some water from the tap; I still wasn't ready for them to know I was awake and the sound of running water was sure to tip them off.

"Look I need to check if she's alright, she could have a concussion," it was James speaking again; it almost sounded like he was concerned.

Almost.

I probably should have opened the door to let them know I was ok, but I didn't want to face any of them just yet. I was too embarrassed…and confused.

"Well then you should have taken her to the hospital right away!" A very pissed off Emmett hollered.

"I know…but I wanted to get her dry…I don't know what I was thinking." James sounded tired.

"We can take her to see Carlisle," Jazz offered, he seemed to have calmed down.

"Like hell you are taking her anywhere near your friend Edward, I don't trust that prick!" James seethed. I heard someone hit the wall, and I had my suspicions as to who that someone was.

"Oh come on!" Emmett roared.

"I bet he's the reason you think I did this to her," James snarled.

"Look I can take her!" It sounded like Mike. "You guys just go." He was trying to diffuse the situation. James was known for being a hot head when someone pushed him just right, and it seemed that Emmett was starting to get fiery and out of control..

"I'm not going anywhere," Emmett spat. If I wasn't worried for my friends breaking into a fight with James and small Mike getting in the middle then I would have thought it was sweet how concerned they were for me.

"Come on Em, there's nothing we can do," Jazz urged, clearly trying to calm Emmett down; things were obviously close to getting out of hand. To my relief, I heard them leave – with a lot of grunting in protest from Emmett. The least amount of witnesses to this, the better – it was embarrassing enough, and I definitely didn't want to cause a fight.

"Thanks, Mike," James sighed again. "But I can take her."

"Are you sure?" Mike asked.

"No," I cried quietly. Don't leave me Mike. I didn't want to be alone with James. The confidence I had had earlier when I arrived had disappeared. Even though Mike wasn't much in the way of protection, I was sure James wouldn't try anything with him there.

"Yeah, actually, I better check on her."

I hurried to wipe the mascara from my eyes and to tidy my hair; I didn't want to look too deranged. I didn't want James to take me to the hospital; I didn't want to be anywhere near him.

"Okay, well I'll see you guys around," to my dismay, I heard Mike turn to leave but he stopped. "Oh and Laurent?" he called.

Laurent was outside too?

"Yo?" Laurent answered. I mentally cringed at his voice and felt the rage inside reach my cheeks, turning them red; my confidence began to grow again.

"No hard feelings?" Mike asked.

What?

"Nah bro, it's not your fault aye. Girls love to lie," Laurent sighed, casually brushing off the indifference the two of them once shared.

There was no way Mike was falling for his shit? Was he?

"Yeah, I can't believe I fell for it,' Mike groaned. "See you round."

Mikes words left me gob smacked, he couldn't really believe that Jess made that up, could he? It was so obvious that Laurent had scared her into lying about what happened. Wasn't it? Jeez, if her boyfriend couldn't see it, then she was going to have a hell of a lot of trouble convincing anybody else.

"See you," Laurent and James called in unison. And then I was alone, but I was no longer as terrified of facing them as I was before. My desire to kill Laurent had officially renewed itself at this point but as I reached for the door, it opened and standing in the entrance was a surprised James. Seeing him knocked my confidence.

"I didn't realize you were up," he mumbled. Thankfully I was able to ignore James because behind him I could see Laurent, and my fear was quickly forgotten.

This time when I lunged at him, unlike in the meadow, no one was there holding me back. Laurent didn't see it coming as I swung at him and my fist connected with his jaw, making a loud smacking sound. He stumbled backward a few steps, dazed and then quickly re-gathered his composure while he rubbed at his jaw.

"What the fuck?" He glared at me, his fists balled. He made a move toward me, and I raised my eyebrow daring him to do something. I don't know what I was thinking or where this sense of bravado came from; I probably should have taken off running at the sight of him. Maybe if I hadn't have hit my head, I would have been thinking straight, but instead I glared at him in defiance, refusing to show him any fear. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. For too long Laurent had taken pride in making girls feel what he wanted them to. I wasn't going to be one of them.

"Stupid cunt!" he yelled, clearly not happy with my act of bravery.

I glared evenly at Laurent, but I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to hit him again, but my hand throbbed and I couldn't be sure that it wasn't broken - it sure as hell felt that way.

"Fuck you Laurent, you deserve more! We both know you scared Jess into lying to Mike about what happened," I hissed.

"Oh for fuck sake, give it a bloody rest Bella, she lied. She's a slut. The sooner you learn to live with it the better," Laurent's anger was unmistakable as he continued to rub his jaw. I couldn't help the smug sense of satisfaction that was growing inside of me knowing that I had hurt him, even if he deserved worse.

"Take it back," I threatened as I took a step towards him this time. James put his arm on my shoulder to stop me but I shrugged him off, turning to give him a warning look.

"Bella," he moaned. "Please stop this."

"NO! He's ruining her life!" I screamed. I took another step toward Laurent as he smirked at my attempt to be threatening. His leer sent me over the edge, and I lunged again; for the second time I took a swing at him, but this time he saw it coming and reacted, catching my wrist before it connected with his face. He pushed me backwards against the hallway wall, smacking my head against it with the force, as he pinned my arm above my head.

"If you don't stop this Bella, I will show you what made Jess change her story," he whispered in my ear, low enough so James couldn't hear. My pulse was thudding in my ear due to the adrenalin that was running through my veins, Laurent's words should have scared me senseless, but they didn't.

"If you don't let go of me, I will show you what I can do to make you change your story," I threatened through gritted teeth. I wasn't ready to let him get away with scaring me or my friend. But I had no idea how to make Laurent fear me – how could a guy his size fear a girl who weighed a hundred and twenty pounds and was just over five foot four tall? At my words, he laughed at me, his warm beer breath hitting me in the face. I squeezed my eyes shut; he was absolutely repulsive, and my body screamed at me to get away from him.

"You know, you're kind of sexy when you're mad," he groaned in my ear. "Yes…very sexy," he moaned again. His body was pressed tightly against mine, and I had to turn my head away from his in an effort to avoid our lips touching. "Come on Bella, don't be like that," he pleaded into my neck. My breathing hitched in my throat causing Laurent to chuckle, his free hand moved its way up my side – despite my efforts, he was getting exactly what he wanted from me. My eyes were still tightly closed and my head turned away from him – the fear that should have been already coursing through my body hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't get Laurent off me, he was too strong. He was so tightly pressed against my body, I couldn't even knee him the balls – I began to panic.

I opened my eyes, my head still turned to see James staring at us, his face contorted with anger and his fists balled. I couldn't for the life of me understand why he would let Laurent do this to me, how he could stand by and watch as his so called best friend groped the shit out of me, but then again we weren't really together anymore. I opened my mouth to speak, to beg James to do something, but he reacted faster. He grabbed Laurent by the back of his neck and pulled him from me. He then tacked him and their bodies collided into the wall opposite me, leaving a gaping hole in the plaster. My legs gave out under my body and I dropped to the floor, I hadn't even realized Laurent had been holding me up.

When I stood up again James had Laurent pinned against the wall. "Don't you ever touch her like that again!" James spat in Laurent's face.

Laurent lifted up his hands, in surrender, "I thought you said that you guys were over, I thought she was fair game." He shouldn't have spoken as this only infuriated James further.

"NO ONE TOUCHES HER!" he yelled, causing me to flinch.

"Okay, Jeez!" Laurent gave into James' dramatics, and James released him. Laurent sauntered quickly from the room, but as he passed me he winked and licked his lips simultaneously causing my skin to crawl. I was shocked at his nerve considering James was right there, but then realized he knew there was no way James could have seen. When Laurent was out of sight, James turned to face me. His expression was still angry; however he looked like he was trying to calm himself down before he spoke.

"Are you okay?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes," I whispered. I turned to leave; I wanted to get out of his presence as soon as possible, but James had other ideas. He hurried to stand between me and the exit, placing his hands lightly on my arms, forcing me to look up at him. I cringed at his touch, and he dropped his hold immediately, his expression unfathomable.

"Don't go," he begged softly as I pushed past him.

"Can't we just talk about this?" he asked the back of my head as he followed me down the hall.

"There is nothing to talk about," I bit back. A few party goers, girls I didn't recognize, made their way into the house but stopped when they saw James and me; something in James expression told them they weren't welcome, and they quickly made their retreat back out the way they came. I decided to follow their lead and continued to walk away from him.

"Please Bella," he begged again, grabbing hold of my wrist pulling me to a stop. I turned to face him and felt my resolve waver as I took in his expression. I quickly shook my head; no, there were no more chances to be had. "I promise…"

I pulled down the neck of my soaked sweater to reveal the bruises on my neck, effectively stopping him mid-sentence. His jaw clenched as he took in the damage he himself had caused. He brought up his free hand to touch me, just as Edward had, but I took a step backward preventing him. A range of emotions flittered across his face, anger, hurt, guilt. But I decided I shouldn't really care how he felt.

Yes I had once loved him, and I probably still had some feelings for him, but mostly they consisted of fear and hurt. I had thought he loved me too, that he felt the same way. Hell, he had even proposed to me, but he wasn't the same person anymore. He scared me, he was violent, he chose his loser friend over me, and he definitely didn't deserve another chance. Even if he did just about kill Laurent right now.

"It's over James," I shook my head. "Don't ever touch me or talk to me again." As I spoke, it was as if a switch flicked, and I watched as a fire began to burn in his now black eyes. His forehead pinched together, and he pulled me roughly by the wrist toward him.

"It's over when I say it is," he growled, his face inches from mine. Like Laurent, his breath smelt like beer and cigarettes. And again for some reason, I failed to feel the fear I should have.

"No, its not, and if you don't let me go James, I will scream," I said calmly. His face dropped slightly as he realized he couldn't force me to bend his will, and believing me, he let go of my wrist. But as I turned to walk out the door, I felt him shove me from behind. Everything turned into slow motion at that point as I stumbled forward under his hands.

The force of his push sent me crashing into a large thick table, the corner of which caught me in the rib. I rolled off the table and onto the floor, hitting it hard. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs, and I had to cover my head with my hands as all the glass beer bottles that once covered the table crashed and shattered around me. I lay there on my back and moved my arms to my waist, clutching at my ribs and gasping for air. I was in agony, and tears began to stream down my face.

"You always were such a klutz," James scoffed as he stood over me, leering. The look in his eyes used to be unfamiliar to me, but I had grown to know it quiet well in the last week; there was a glint of madness to them and the anger that his features were thick with was terrifying. Slowly, he kneeled down to where I was laying on the floor, glass crunching under his feet. At first it looked like he was going to help me up, but instead he bent his head toward me so that his mouth was only an inch from my ear and whispered. "It's not over until I say it is, bitch." And as quickly as he said it he stood, kicked me swiftly in the ribs before he headed down the hall and exited out the back door.

....

If you are getting sad about lack of Edwella time, it is coming, there might just be a kiss shared not in the next chapter but the one after ;)

So the more you review the faster we can get there and see if it happens =)